Mustard-beater.



e. c. HARTER,

MUSTARD HEATER.

APPLIQATION EILED OCT. 7. 1916.

Patented Aug. 21, 1 917.

' IN VENTOR. 6907:9"9 awn 56 7- Lind, in the county of'Adams and State of MUstnAnD-nnATEn.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known'that I, GEORGE C. HARTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washington, have invented new'and useful Improvements in Mustard-Beaters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in devices for holding out stalks down upon the draper of a platform cutting mechanism, such as used on a header or combine harvester, devices of this character usually'being termed mustard packers or beaters, by reason of the fact that more difliculty is experienced in connection with mustard weeds than any other noXio-us growth.

"In the great Northwestern country this mustard growth exceeclsthe wheat in height and its finebranches spread outwardly in a thick but delicate tangle-like mass thereby making the top portions very fiulfy and resilient. "When these mustard weeds grow very thick in the wheat, a great dealof'trouble is experienced by reason of the fact that themustard fiufi s up on'the platform draper "to such an extent that it even clogs'the reel "by'becomingtangled with .the slats. It also forms such bulky and resilient mass behind the reel,and in front of the screen of the platform, thatheretofore it has been necessary to employ a man to follow the platform with some kind of an implement such as pitch fork, and continuously pack 'downthe mustardto prevent the same from discharging over and behind the screen and carrying a great deal of wheatywith it. The

"mustard weed is so 'mixed into and inter- "twined with the wheatthat'ittends to lift the wheat offfrom the platform draper and therefore greatly interferes with conveyance v by the platform 'draper upto' "the elevating draper. The operation of packing down the mustard functions to give traction to the stiks'on the draper topermit thelatter to convey the mustard, along withthe wheat,

up to the elevating draper thatleads to the combine'hopper. i

Before perfecting my invent1on,'fI made various attempts not only to avoid the employment of a separate employee for this 1 packingoperation, but also to holddown' the 'mustardon the drapersothat the draper could carry itwto-the elevator.

I first employed a fixed guard overhanging the diaper f and then I employed a rotary paddle-like structure extending along and above the draper and behind the reel. The fixed guard was found to be defective because of the fact ,erarns rarnnr enr ch.

Specification of Letters Patent. PatgnteflcAug 219,191? I Application filedQetober 7, 1916. 1 seria'rno; 124,418.

The paddle arrangement was also defective because of its intermittent pressure on the mustard and by reason of the fact that the w mustard would tangle in the paddle st-ructure.

I finally developed a structure which would imparta' constant andsustained pressureofthe mustard down upon-the sticksof the advancing platform draper, the constant pressure being under continual operation, and I found that this devicewas so-successful that it entirely dispensed'with employto the elevator without clogging either in mydevice or without being carried forward by the reel.

out the one particular. means which I prefer ment of a separate manfor packing, and it, i i also su'ccessfullyoperated onthe mustard so that the-platform draper would advance ;it

to employ and in the subjoinedclaimsl will :particularly'set forth 5 the'nature of my invention.

In -the drawing i Figure 1 is alplan View of a platform cutting mechanism :WlllCl'l may be either a header or a combine, or the like,-a portion. of an elevator draper being shownratthenleft,

and the reel being omitted. i

Fig. 2 is-ran end view'looking fromi the right of Fig. 1 showing thereelaandvthe 'device of my invention. a 1 i Fig. 3 iswan .enlarged longitudinal sec; tional view of my improved mustard beater.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view 1 on line 4-l ofaFig. 3. a n

Like characters of a; reference designate similar parts throughout thexdifierlent figures oftherdrawings f While in the majority of instances, these varlous devices havebeen-termed mustard punche'rs and mustard beatersyI donotwish o to be understood as limiting my invention to operation upon tlns p'artleular"character of Weeds since it is effectiveonliothervweeds :wh-ich obj ectionably clog conveyance by the platform draper, .and therefore Iwillu'efer the usual-draper. slats 3, the platform draper delivering to an elevator draper A. A reel is designated at 5 and is provided with the usual slats 6. ,Rearwardly of the draper 2 v -11 and I dispose a sprocket 12 on the same is theiusual screen'8 and I have very generally indicated frame portions 9 and 10 as suitablemountings for the device-of my invention. The reel shaft is designated'at over which a sprocket chain 13-is trained.

:Referring now more particularly to the device o'f. -my invention, 14 designates as a whole, my improved mustard beating drum which. is; mounted upon a shaft 15. ,I have found that gas pipe serves very well as shafting and I have shown the shaft mount- .ed in bearings 16 and 1 7,.connected in any fromthewheel to the mustard beater.

practice, I have found that a two to one vtransmission is very effective.

suitable, manner with the framework such as 9 and '10. Any form of adjustment for regulating the height of the drum may be provided as desired. On-the shaft 15 is disposed asprocket 18 over which chain 13 is trained to communicate rotary motion It. will be seen by reference to Figs. 1 and 2 that the beater is disposed in; spaced relation above and extends along the draper 2 between the reel and the screen and subistantially throughout the length of the reel "and draper. Likewise, it will be'clear that the beater rotates about an axis parallel with the axis of rotationof the reel and that the axis of rotation of the beater is substantially 'at right'angles to the pathof travel of the draper, the'lattertraveling in the direction of the arrow indicated in Fig. 1. I have'obtained the best-I results by r0- :tating thebeater inthe ,sameldirection as the reelrotates, in accordance with the drive -a beater "as shownin'Flg- 2, my invention shown in Fig. 2. ,7

In addition to the broad idea of disposing ."alsoii-ncludes specific features of novelty which I will now point out more particularlyby reference'to Figs. 4 and 5. 1

-- 1 Asheaders and like machines are made of difierent widths I preferably make my im- 1 I proved beater in sections so that it will not be necessary to -make a special beater for eachsize machine. As illustrated in Fig.

"a description. ofthe construction of one 3, two sections are mounted on shaft 15 and P section, will be sufiicient. End heads 19 are -p rovided having fiat. abutting faces, as

clearly sh0wn,.said heads being provided with hubs 20 for telescopic engagement over shaft 15. The'heads 20 are provided with inwardlyturned annular flanges 21. In order to form a drum out of each section, I providefsegmental strips 22 which in practice are four feet in length. The width of said strips are equal to a quarter of the circumference of the drum and the end margins of said strips are fitted upon the flanges 21, as shown in Fig. 4c, and are securely bolted thereto by means such as bolts 23. The lateral margins of the segments 22 are turned up to form projecting beaters extending from the periphery of the drum section, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. I preferably form one margin 24, of each segment, somewhat shorter than the remaining margin 25 of the abutting section, and the margin25 is turned over the margin 24, as indicated at 26, to not only form a tight joint but also to stiii'en the beater and render the same strong enough to effectively beat and punch down the mustard on rotation of the device. In the form shown, I have provided four beaters for each drum section.

In order to avoid the expense of keying the sections on to the shaft, I have shown the hubs 20 provided with set screws 27 whereby each end head may be secured to the shaft 15. In addition to the set screws 27, I provide means for not onlv coupling a plurality of sections together but also preventing independent rotation of one section with respect to the other.

As shown, said means may comprise a rod 28 extendingthrough all the heads of the sections and having a head 29, on one end thereof and a nut 30 on the other end. Thus if any one of the set screws 27 should get loose, the rod 28 would hold the loosened headiin place.

I Furthermore this rod 28 Wlll. hold the sections in tight end to end abutting relation.

I desire to emphasize and urge the importance of constantly pressing the mustard down. unto the draper 2, as is possible by the continuous drum structure 14, in contradistinction to separatedv paddles. By means of th s constant downward pressure, the

draper 2 continually feedsthe mustard toward the elevator and there is no chance for the mustard to bunch and clog the parts.

It is. believed that the novelty and utility of my invention will be clearly understood from the foregoing description, and while I have herein shown and described one specific form of my invention, I do not wish to be limited thereto except for such limitations as the claims may import.

I claim I I 1. In combination, a platform grain cuttingmechanism including a draper and reel, and movable means extending along and above said draper and substantially co-extensive in length with the reel and located at one side of said reel for constantly pressing the cut material down onto said draper to prevent clogging and initiate conveyance of the mustard by the draper, substantially as described.

2. In combination, a platform grain cutting mechanism including a draper and a reel, and rotatable means the axis of which extends in thedirection of movement of the draper substantially throughout the length of the reel and disposed above and along the draper for constantly pressing the cut material down onto said draper to prevent clogging and initiate conveyance of the cut material by the draper, substantially as de' scribed.

3. In combination, a platform grain cuttingmechanism including a draper anda reel, and a drum extending parallel with and driven from the reel and above the top of the draper to constantly press the cut material. down onto the draper, and initiate conveyance of the cut draper, substantially as described.

4. In combination, a platform grain cutting mechanism including a draper and reel, and a drum rotatable about an axis parallel With the axis of the reel and extending substantially throughout the length of the draper and at such a distance above the draper as to constantly press the cut material down onto the draper to initiate conveyan'ce of the cut material by the draper, substantially as described. a

a 5. In combination, a platform grain cutting mechanism including a draper and a reel, and a rotating drum extending substantially parallel with and along the reel and disposed in spaced relation above the draper to constantly press the cut material down onto the draper tofacilitate conveye'opies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the material by the ance'of the cut material by the diaper, said drum having peripherally substantially as described.

6. In combination, a platform grain cutting meehanism including a draper, and a mustard beater means disposed in spaced disposed heaters,

relation above said draper and comprising a shaft, heads mounted on sald shaft in spaced relation, strip segments disposed in circumferential relation about said heads to form a drum, the abutting margins of said segments projecting radially from the pe riphery of said drum in interlocking relation With each other and forming projecting beaters, substantially as described.

7 In combination, a platform grain cutting mechanism including a draper, and a mustard beater means disposed in spaced relation above said draper and comprising a shaft, heads mounted on said shaft in spaced relation, strip segments disposed in circumferential relation about said heads to form a drum, the longitudinal abutting margins of said segments projecting radially from the GEORGE O. I-IARTER.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). G. 

